I have run across something i am unfamilliar with. And welcome any thoughts or comments. That would help me to better understand what a charging solenoid is used for? And in what configuration they are installed?
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Not what you think
Loooking at the photo and reading the description I'm thinking that it is a starter relay.The company listed it in the charging circuit.The copy reads 9 to 36 volts but very low amps .The load side of the relay is several hundred amps.
Loooking at the photo and reading the description I'm thinking that it is a starter relay.The company listed it in the charging circuit.The copy reads 9 to 36 volts but very low amps .The load side of the relay is several hundred amps.
It is like a starter relay in it's action,
the suggested usage seems to be as a battery isolater that you can switch with a remote switch. The operating current of the solenoid is low, the 9-36 volts DC, the contacts that it makes are rated up to 60 volts, these are the contacts that would make or break the "working" circuit. Like the starter relay does for the starter motor. On the bottom of the page you will notice it draws your attention to an "automatic" solenoid that does not have a switch but operates by sensing the current.
the suggested usage seems to be as a battery isolater that you can switch with a remote switch. The operating current of the solenoid is low, the 9-36 volts DC, the contacts that it makes are rated up to 60 volts, these are the contacts that would make or break the "working" circuit. Like the starter relay does for the starter motor. On the bottom of the page you will notice it draws your attention to an "automatic" solenoid that does not have a switch but operates by sensing the current.
I have three of them....
These are simply remotely controlled high current switches. They are useful because you can install them in a convenient location (from a wiring viewpoint) and control them using a small switch somewhere else. I installed one as the starter battery disconnect switch when I rewired my dc system. It is located immediately adjacent to the battery, but lets me disconnect the battery from a breaker on the main dc panel. The advantage is that I did not have to run the heavy battery cables to a manual switch. I use a second one as the battery switch to my (2000w) inverter, again with a remote switch on the dc panel. The third one is used for the windlass disconnect, again operated from the main panel. This way I know everything is disabled when I turn off the main panel. It's a very robust unit and has worked flawlessly. Costs about $90. By the way Blue Sea Systems also make a heavy-duty battery combiner that looks identical.
These are simply remotely controlled high current switches. They are useful because you can install them in a convenient location (from a wiring viewpoint) and control them using a small switch somewhere else. I installed one as the starter battery disconnect switch when I rewired my dc system. It is located immediately adjacent to the battery, but lets me disconnect the battery from a breaker on the main dc panel. The advantage is that I did not have to run the heavy battery cables to a manual switch. I use a second one as the battery switch to my (2000w) inverter, again with a remote switch on the dc panel. The third one is used for the windlass disconnect, again operated from the main panel. This way I know everything is disabled when I turn off the main panel. It's a very robust unit and has worked flawlessly. Costs about $90. By the way Blue Sea Systems also make a heavy-duty battery combiner that looks identical.
Love those things,
I used a 'full time' relay (Cole Heersey style) to control my refer system so it isn't on when the engine is restarted after pulling down the system. Slick. But that should be no surprise. Relays control almost everything on Earth.
I used a 'full time' relay (Cole Heersey style) to control my refer system so it isn't on when the engine is restarted after pulling down the system. Slick. But that should be no surprise. Relays control almost everything on Earth.
Solenoid Example
Josh Here's an example of the use of a solenoid on a boat. See the link. Solenoids are also used as part of "combiners," for battery charging. Go the West Marine website, look under Advisor, Electrical, and/or read right in their catalog about combiners. Solenoids are used, as the guys have said, as relays. Say that you have a long run of wire out and back, to say a switch, and it has a large load. Just stick a solenoid in the wire where the load is, and run the same wires from the switch to the solenoid. Every time you push the switch it activates the solenoid, but the current doesn't have to run all the way to the switch, it just goes through the solenoid. It reduces the voltage drop by reducing the wire length that the usable current is flowing through. Hope that helps. BTW, some of the detailed questions are even better explained in BOOKS, like Calder and Casey. A Google on solenoids will also give you more than you could possibly ever read. Good luck, Stu
Josh Here's an example of the use of a solenoid on a boat. See the link. Solenoids are also used as part of "combiners," for battery charging. Go the West Marine website, look under Advisor, Electrical, and/or read right in their catalog about combiners. Solenoids are used, as the guys have said, as relays. Say that you have a long run of wire out and back, to say a switch, and it has a large load. Just stick a solenoid in the wire where the load is, and run the same wires from the switch to the solenoid. Every time you push the switch it activates the solenoid, but the current doesn't have to run all the way to the switch, it just goes through the solenoid. It reduces the voltage drop by reducing the wire length that the usable current is flowing through. Hope that helps. BTW, some of the detailed questions are even better explained in BOOKS, like Calder and Casey. A Google on solenoids will also give you more than you could possibly ever read. Good luck, Stu
What Stu is referring to as a Solenoid has become
common usage for what is more correctly referred to as a relay. When the magnet plunger (solenoid) is combined with a contact switch, well, then a relay is created. Just remember that a solenoid is the moving part of the device. It can do many things without an electrical function. I have one on my Yanmar to pull off the fuel pump to shut off the engine. No pull cable. See Photo #47 on my web site. It's a solenoid, but if that plunger rammed into a couple of contacts, connected to wires, it would be a relay. They're everywhere, in everything,,,
common usage for what is more correctly referred to as a relay. When the magnet plunger (solenoid) is combined with a contact switch, well, then a relay is created. Just remember that a solenoid is the moving part of the device. It can do many things without an electrical function. I have one on my Yanmar to pull off the fuel pump to shut off the engine. No pull cable. See Photo #47 on my web site. It's a solenoid, but if that plunger rammed into a couple of contacts, connected to wires, it would be a relay. They're everywhere, in everything,,,
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